More than anything a demo could ever show you! A masterpiece!
Lets start with the "bad" – if that word can even be used. Like any new game you play, adapting to the control scheme can be a little weird at first. This was the case for myself. It took about fifteen minutes to start getting used to what everything was. But after that it became pretty fluid. The second thing that might be an issue to some is the corny voiceovers and acting. As well as the lack of an original story. In fact many of the ides in this game have been done before. But because this game does what it does so well, these things aren't really issues. For instance the voiceovers and acting are like a "B" rated action flick. Your typical cheesy one liners, a lot of "over the top" stuff. But for me these are things that make this game so epic! Its like you are jumping into the role of "Van Damme meets Batman meets The Matrix meets Commando!" There are so many amazing action star styles in this game. And the voiceovers/acting are part of what make the package entertaining. So these things may be considered bad to some. But for me they aren't really "negatives."
Now for the positives! Let me sum it up for you in one word "EVERYTHING!" That's right, I said everything! This game has it all! And ill let you in on some of even the smallest of details that will make you appreciate this title even more. I won't try to spoil too much, but be warned there may be spoilers in this review. So basically the story is straight forward and unoriginal. You are Rico a Mexican "Desperado-esque" action star!!! No really…you are like a mercenary. And you have come to the MASSIVE Island of Panau to search for this badass American guy – who trained you by the way (of course he did.) The game starts off with you kind of doing a tutorial mission that throws you right into the action. You will quickly learn the mechanics of the game, as well as some of the cool things you can do (there are MANY cool things you can do btw.) These cool things include skydiving out of a helicopter and parachuting to a nearby enemy base. Where of course you begin wrecking train on EVERYTHING! In the most fascinating of fashion I might add. For instance, Rico has this cool Spiderman/Batman grappling hook thing he can use at any time for just about anything! Among clinging to anything in the entire game (that's right ANYTHING) you can also use it as a weapon. He can use it as a melee attack or you can shot it onto an enemy and then shot the other end to….lets be creative….a tree!? Which sends the enemy flying through the air sticking them to the tree. Only to be left dangling like a piñata for you to shoot up in epic fashion. If that's not creative enough, how about shooting the grappling hook into a guy in a guard tower and then yanking him over the edge to watch him fall to his death! Still not creative enough? How about latching the hook onto explosive barrels and then yanking those over a railing and down on top of three guards behind a sand bang emplacement? BOOM! Barrel explodes on impact and three enemies go soaring through the air – all the while you drool in astonishment while thinking "that was badass!" But WAIT that's NOTHING compared to hooking a guy up to another guy and watching them fly into each other and getting knocked out! Actually…that's stupid compared to hooking a guy up to the back of your car/truck/tractor/motorcycle/boat/jet/helicopter – and watching them skid around the ground screaming while gooshy blood splats splatter!
The bottom line, you can do ANYTHING your mind can thing up with the grappling hook. Which brings me to vehicle theft. You want that FIGHTER JET, or that ATTACK CHOOPER?? No problem, if its within range of your grappling hook simply latch on and hijack the sucker! With a brief and simple button pressing combo (the buttons flash up on the screen and you have to press the corresponding button) there will be a short fight for the drivers seat. Which always results with you beating the crap out of the driver before throwing them out. Now you have that vehicle and all its INFINITE AMMO at your disposal! That's right INFINITE! But wait im getting ahead of myself. Lets not forget about the guns in the game…its easy to get lost in the cool factor of your grappling hook. The guns in the game (so far) have all been VERY satisfying! Rico can carry a single two-handed gun (i.e. Assault Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Shotgun, Rocket Launcher) and he can also carry two one handed weapons (i.e. Pistols, SMGS, Revolvers, Sawed-off Shotguns etc) Then to top it off he can carry grenades and C4 style explosives that are remote detonated. The gunplay is pretty simple, you just point the reticle at the bad guy and unload! This part of the game is very MaxPayne-ish! The epicness of the guns and blood splatters. The fact the guys fly backwards 20ft when blasted. It is every mans dream! It really reminds me of Last Man Standing with some Equinox sprinkled on top. You will love the weaponry from the first shot fired!
So if that isn't enough for you, there is 104 vehicles in the game waiting for your attention. Boats, jets, helicopters, trucks, cars, motorcycles…you name it! The driving in the game is pretty much like GTA but better IMO. You can go anywhere in any vehicle and do pretty much whatever you want. And remember, if you see it then you can drive it! There is much fun to be had in your favorite vehicle. If its running people over or getting stunt points for driving off cliffs, whatever you want! Wanna decimate a village in a helicopter…DO IT! In fact if you blow up government property then you are actually rewarded with CHAOS points. Which not only unlock more items in the "black market" store. But also advance the game so to speak. In other words…if you see anything painted with the governments "star" symbol…blow it up. You will gratify the action hero within and get rewarded!
Lets sidetrack from the obvious for a minute and focus on graphics, sound, physics and replay value. The graphics in JC2 are AMAZING!!!! It is the BEST open world environment I have ever seen in a game. Everything in this game is VASTLY realistic. The MOST impressive thing ive seen to date in any game is the water! The water in JC2 is simply REAL….if it was anymore real it would leak out of your t.v. screen! The developers but HUGE amounts of emphasis on the geography in this game. Even the under water world is alive with coral and seaweed. The sky has realistic altitude adjusting clouds! The gradual changes between night and day, snow, rain, everything you would expect in real life has been done in this game. Everything is pre-rendered so things don't just appear out of thin air. The different terrains are all very well done. Everything is lush and detailed. Butterflies in the field, light beams shinning through the trees. This game would be worth buying just to site see. This is truly the next generation in open world graphics and designs. All the animations are smooth and dynamic. Explosions, sparks and fire are very very realistic looking. Smoke and water movements, even the ruffling of Ricos clothes when he skydives. It is nothing short of a 10 out of 10!
The sound in the game is also amazing! The guns are all very crisp and powerful sounding! You feel like you are shooting these epic weapons! The revolvers, miniguns, and shotguns especially. The vehicle sounds, birds chirping, conversations between island patrons. The random bug noises of the jungle, the sound of thunder and rain. Sirens, screeching tires, to the smashing sounds of car crashes. All the sounds are realistic and cinema like! I personally just bought some Ear Force X31 headphones and the sound is breath taking! But it doesn't end there! What about even smaller details?? What about things like mounted miniguns? How cool would it be if you could rip that baby off its mount and carry it around Duke Nukem style…..well….you can! That's right! Infinite ammo minigun that you tore off a turret and now are the freaking Terminator! Not small enough of a detail for you? Lets talk about the physics of the game…HOLY CRAP!!
The physics in this game are as real as I have experienced. For instance, lets say you knock down a palm tree. Well the only way you are going to move it is if you run into it with a big enough car. Unlike other games where objects lose their real life characteristics once you blow it up, this does not happen in JC2. You cant kick a palm tree around like a soccer ball just because it fell on the ground. The most impressive illustration I saw of this was when I shot my grappling hook onto a huge Sadam Hussein style statue, and then hooked it onto the back of an armored jeep. Well instead of just pulling the thing down, like linken logs, when I accelerated to the point where the jeep pulled the grappling tight…the weight of the statue caused the jeep to jolt. Slightly causing it hop of the ground! It would be like real life, if you tried to pull something really heavy that was tied up to the back of your truck. And it jerks the whole truck with a force of gravity. It was a spectacular display of real life mechanics! The second thing that impressed me is the amount of detail they put in the "damaging effect." When you go an a rampage in your car or truck, it doesn't have two visual skins. One for perfect, and one for beat up. The vehicles have layers and layers of damage. You go through a cycle of damage before the vehicle just gets so beat up it finally dies. Much more so than any other game! The biggest detail is how the paint gets worn and scratched, and how well the frame holds up. The physics come in to play again here as well. Because depending on how rough you are on your vehicle will determine how rough your vehicle looks! And again this is far superior to any other visual damage system I have seen. Now the last and by far the most impressive (and maybe most memorable moment in game so far) was not far from the beginning of the game. Among many of the things Rico can do, car surfing is one of them. There is an epic car chase/getaway mission. Where you are surfing on the top of this guys car and the whole Island militia is chasing after you. Guys hanging out of windows shooting at you. Guys on motorcycles etc etc. It actually reminded me of the Matrix Part 2, where Trinity and Morpheus are trying to get away with the "key maker." Well how bad ass is that Rico can Spiderman flip and crawl all around the car. He maneuvers all around the car to avoid gun fire! And if that's not enough you can simply grapple jump over to a bad guys car. Shoot the passenger, and then kill the driver, and then jump back to the original getaway car! Pretty much use your imagination and do whatever you want!! – So on with my memorable moment! And this says a lot about the games mechanics! Im car surfing and going across this long bridge. Where there is probably a good 100ft drop to the water below. And I decide ill try and shoot out a tire…well HOLY CRAP! The tire pops, and instead of the armored jeep just slowing down or stopping in. The driver loses control and the jeep turns sideways, and begins to barrel roll DOWN THE BRIDGE!! Like a freaking movie!! Driver and passenger STILL inside the vehicle by the way! Then the jeep hits the concrete side of the bridge and goes airborne (still barrel rolling by the way.) And if that's not epic enough…the passenger gets EJECTED from the jeep and goes souring through the air and falls into the water below. As this is happening the jeep then blows up in spectacular fashion – mid air!
- Let me just say this.,..it was the first time I have ever paused a video game to say "HOLY CRAP" – then waited for what just happened to sink in. This game is FULL of moments like these. And there is ENDLESS upon ENDLESS amounts of opportunities to experiment with all the game has to offer. It is like getting to play the role of a true action star. That has no limit, in a world of no limits. And ven in all its over the top moments. The game is serious in its design, physics, graphics and sound! Anyone that owns an Xbox should at least try this game long enough to experience just a few of these things. Even if the game itself does not seem appealing, its worth the beauty and detail. GET THIS GAME!